Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The Dolphins didn’t get embarrassed in Saturday’s 27-24 loss to New England the way they did back in Week 1. They didn’t give up 622 yards of total offense, 517 passing yards to Tom Brady or any 99-yard touchdowns, instead playing the AFC-leading Patriots down to the final gun.

But that doesn’t make Saturday’s defeat any easier to take.

“A loss is a loss is a loss, always,” receiver Brian Hartline said. “We’re never proud about losing.”

The Dolphins (5-10) have come a long way since that early September beat-down by the Patriots and the subsequent seven-game losing streak. They have won five of their last eight games, developed a top-five defense and found their groove on offense behind Matt Moore, Reggie Bush and Brandon Marshall.

And they almost pulled off an upset at Gillette Stadium, taking a 17-0 lead into halftime before wilting in the second half.

Left guard Richie Incognito said he’s proud of the way his teammates didn’t give up on the season after the 0-7 start.

He is also proud of his teammates for continuing to fight when they trailed 27-17 late in the fourth quarter Sunday. Moore led an 80-yard touchdown drive to bring the Dolphins within three points.

“Just speaks to the character of the men in this room,” Incognito said. “We don’t quit, we just fight.

“We’ve come a long way, we found an identity offensively, and we came up here and gave a hard-fought battle.”

Saturday’s game was a good measuring stick for the progress the Dolphins have made over the past 15 weeks – and the last two years.

The Patriots won both games in 2010 by a combined score of 79-21.

But many players couldn’t focus on any of the positives after the game. The Dolphins reached double-digit losses for the first time since 2007 and only the fifth time since 1970.

“In my mind, I’m like (forget) the measuring stick,” said cornerback Will Allen, who had three tackles. “I’m out here trying to win ballgames. I’m not measuring anything.”

As good as the Dolphins were in the first half, grabbing a 17-0 lead on two Moore touchdown passes while sacking Tom Brady four times and holding him to 87 yards passing, they were equally as bad in the second half.

Moore fumbled a snap and threw an interception in the third quarter, the Dolphins gained just 126 total yards in the half and Brady threw for 217 yards while leading the Patriots to 27 consecutive points.

“Played well,” Bush said, “just not for four quarters.”

Marshall, who had seven catches for 156 yards and a team-high sixth touchdown catch of the season, chalked up the loss to “immaturity, stupid mistakes, lack of execution.”

“You can’t do that against a Patriot team like that,” Marshall said. “It’s frustrating, but the whole season is frustrating.”

Still, the Dolphins looked nothing Saturday like the team that lost 38-24 to the Patriots in Week 1.

Moore, who sat on the bench that game in favor of Chad Henne, has thrown for 14 touchdowns with only three interceptions in the past eight games.

Marshall has developed into a bigger touchdown threat, with four in the last five games, and his 1,177 receiving yards this season are the fifth most in Dolphins history.

Bush, too, has been a revelation, cracking the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the first time in his career.

Saturday’s game (113 yards) was his fourth straight 100-yard game, and he carried the ball 20-plus times for the third time in four games. In fact, Bush and Marshall became the first receiver-running back duo in team history to each crack the 1,000-yard mark.

Marshall reflected on the frustrating season and said he’s trying to “embrace the journey.”

“It’s unfortunate for the amount of work that we put in, it’s unfortunate to the fans, but that’s life,” he said.

“The journey was rough this year, (but) if you focus too much on the destination, you’ll be disappointed.

“You’ve got to embrace the journey and grow, and that’s what this year was about, was growing and building off of it.”

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The Dolphins didn’t get embarrassed in Saturday’s 27-24 loss to New England the way they did back in Week 1. They didn’t give up 622 yards of total offense, 517 passing yards to Tom Brady or any 99-yard touchdowns, instead playing the AFC-leading Patriots down to the final gun.

But that doesn’t make Saturday’s defeat any easier to take.

“A loss is a loss is a loss, always,” receiver Brian Hartline said. “We’re never proud about losing.”

The Dolphins (5-10) have come a long way since that early September beat-down by the Patriots and the subsequent seven-game losing streak. They have won five of their last eight games, developed a top-five defense and found their groove on offense behind Matt Moore, Reggie Bush and Brandon Marshall.

And they almost pulled off an upset at Gillette Stadium, taking a 17-0 lead into halftime before wilting in the second half.

Left guard Richie Incognito said he’s proud of the way his teammates didn’t give up on the season after the 0-7 start.

He is also proud of his teammates for continuing to fight when they trailed 27-17 late in the fourth quarter Sunday. Moore led an 80-yard touchdown drive to bring the Dolphins within three points.

“Just speaks to the character of the men in this room,” Incognito said. “We don’t quit, we just fight.

“We’ve come a long way, we found an identity offensively, and we came up here and gave a hard-fought battle.”

Saturday’s game was a good measuring stick for the progress the Dolphins have made over the past 15 weeks – and the last two years.

The Patriots won both games in 2010 by a combined score of 79-21.

But many players couldn’t focus on any of the positives after the game. The Dolphins reached double-digit losses for the first time since 2007 and only the fifth time since 1970.

“In my mind, I’m like (forget) the measuring stick,” said cornerback Will Allen, who had three tackles. “I’m out here trying to win ballgames. I’m not measuring anything.”

As good as the Dolphins were in the first half, grabbing a 17-0 lead on two Moore touchdown passes while sacking Tom Brady four times and holding him to 87 yards passing, they were equally as bad in the second half.

Moore fumbled a snap and threw an interception in the third quarter, the Dolphins gained just 126 total yards in the half and Brady threw for 217 yards while leading the Patriots to 27 consecutive points.

“Played well,” Bush said, “just not for four quarters.”

Marshall, who had seven catches for 156 yards and a team-high sixth touchdown catch of the season, chalked up the loss to “immaturity, stupid mistakes, lack of execution.”

“You can’t do that against a Patriot team like that,” Marshall said. “It’s frustrating, but the whole season is frustrating.”

Still, the Dolphins looked nothing Saturday like the team that lost 38-24 to the Patriots in Week 1.

Moore, who sat on the bench that game in favor of Chad Henne, has thrown for 14 touchdowns with only three interceptions in the past eight games.

Marshall has developed into a bigger touchdown threat, with four in the last five games, and his 1,177 receiving yards this season are the fifth most in Dolphins history.

Bush, too, has been a revelation, cracking the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the first time in his career.

Saturday’s game (113 yards) was his fourth straight 100-yard game, and he carried the ball 20-plus times for the third time in four games. In fact, Bush and Marshall became the first receiver-running back duo in team history to each crack the 1,000-yard mark.

Marshall reflected on the frustrating season and said he’s trying to “embrace the journey.”

“It’s unfortunate for the amount of work that we put in, it’s unfortunate to the fans, but that’s life,” he said.

“The journey was rough this year, (but) if you focus too much on the destination, you’ll be disappointed.

“You’ve got to embrace the journey and grow, and that’s what this year was about, was growing and building off of it.”

FOXBORO — The New England Patriots are in the playoffs for the ninth time in 11 years. The Miami Dolphins missed them for the ninth time in 10.

Both, though, have a lot at stake on Saturday with the Patriots going for a first-round bye and many Dolphins playing for jobs next season.

And both have the same approach to moving toward those goals. Forget about them.

“Right now, all we’re worried about is Miami,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick told reporters. “All the rest of it is just something for you guys to write about.”

Todd Bowles, a head coach for just one NFL game compared with Belichick’s 291, isn’t focused on what a victory would mean for his future in that position.

“I don’t have any expectations, really,” he said. “I’m just trying to get the guys to play hard and play better and play fast and try to come out with wins. I don’t control those decisions.”

The Patriots (11-3) clinched their third straight AFC East title last Sunday with a 41-23 win at the Denver Broncos. There are several ways for them to secure a bye this week, the easiest being a victory combined with a loss or tie by the Houston Texans. They even can clinch the top seed in the AFC and home-field advantage throughout the conference playoffs if they win and Houston, Pittsburgh and Baltimore all lose or tie.

“I don’t think we think about any of those things other than Miami,” quarterback Tom Brady said. “We prepare hard, focus on what we can focus on, control

what we can control, go out there and play with great effort, good execution and we’ll be in good position.”

The Dolphins (5-9) will focus on stopping Brady. They couldn’t do it in their season-opening 38-24 loss in Miami in which Brady threw for a franchise record 517 yards. Bowles, who led the Dolphins to a 30-23 win over the Buffalo Bills last Sunday after replacing the fired Tony Sparano, was the secondary coach then.

“It was the toughest game for me as a coach,” Bowles said. “You don’t see those kind of numbers every day. Nothing worked. .man (to man), zone, pressure, prevent. He completed everything. You write it off as a bad loss.”

But he remained confident and the secondary has improved considerably since then.

“I just think it was a bad game,” he said. “You just write it off and move on next week.”

The Patriots also have a dangerous offensive threat to handle. Reggie Bush rushed for a career-high 203 yards against Buffalo last Sunday, the same day New England allowed 167 yards rushing in the first quarter alone.

In their last two games, the Patriots have been burned for a total of 422 yards on the ground.

“He’s a special guy,” New England linebacker Rob Ninkovich said of Bush. “A guy like Reggie can do a lot of different things. … So you’ve just got to make sure you don’t let him do those things.”

Bush already has shown he can thrive as an every-down back, something he didn’t do in his other five NFL seasons, all with the New Orleans Saints.

So what motivates him with his team out of the playoff race?

“It’s the New England Patriots,” he said. “Anytime you’re playing a divisional opponent it’s always big and we want to finish the season strong. At the same time, we know that we’re still being evaluated. No matter what the record says, we’re all still being evaluated on a daily basis, on a weekly basis.”

Bush’s job for next season is secure.

Matt Moore is still trying to enhance his resume as the starting quarterback after Chad Henne suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in the fourth game.

The Dolphins rebounded after losing their first seven games with a 5-2 record, but Moore has completed fewer than 60 percent of his passes in each of the last four games.

Still, Bush said, “he’s been the backbone of this team. I honestly believe that. Without him, we wouldn’t (have) been able to put together the stream of wins that we have. …I think you see when we give him time to throw the ball he can be dangerous, he can be effective.”

He very well could be against the Patriots. Starting with the third week of the season, their defense has been ranked worst in the league in both total yards and yards passing allowed. And now they must go on without defensive end Andre Carter, the team leader with 10 sacks who suffered a season-ending injury to his left quadriceps against the Broncos.

“He works incredibly hard and he’s been having a great season,” cornerback Devin McCourty said. “To lose a guy like that, we just have to come together as a group.”

If they succeed, they could lock up a playoff bye with one regular-season game left. But if the Dolphins play spoilers?

“We’re not trying to spoil anything,” Bowles said. “We’re just trying to get better as a team and try to close out the season on a winning note. So we’re just going to worry about us now.”